View Full Version : Did you smell the roses?
Doc Mike
12-19-2010, 18:32
Just curious for those that have thru hiked the trail. What if anything do you wish that you would have done that you didn't, because you were trying to make miles, meet freinds, get to town, etc. Was there a blue blaze to a scenic overlook that you wished you had done, or a place you wish you had visited. Do you wish you had taken the time to stop and smell the roses?:-?
Thanks
Doc Mike
Jim Adams
12-19-2010, 18:40
In 1990 I hiked every white blaze and tried to hike fast due to scheduling.
In 2002 I took my time, hiked to blue blaze views, did the aqua blaze, stopped and swam, blew entire afternoons just picking and eating blue berries and took alot of zero days in poor weather.
Result? 2002 was a very different hike than 1990. Better? Hard to say but it was far more enjoyable.
geek
No regrets whatsoever for me...there is simply too much to see and explore both on the trail and off (hostels, towns,etc.) to see or do it all on just one thru-hike. I think you have to balance soaking in the "whole trail experience" with making the miles and I have no regrets on the way that my hike went. It took me about 5-1/2 months roughly from start to finish and I took plenty of zero's.
Ditto with 4shot; I'm glad to have experienced the AT --- once. Lots of other trails to hike, and you can't do every possible variation. I had some schedule constraints that made it a little easier to decide on side trips, and no regrets.
I think that other trails might lend themselves to less "regret" factor than the AT, and the parallel thread going on now about what an "Official hike" is suggests why. For example, on the PCT, most people opt to take the Eagle Creek alternate rather than the official PCT to finish off Oregon, and no one seriously considers that they haven't thru-hiked as a result --- just less of that sort of nonsense, and even less so on the CDT, where virtually no two people walk the same route unless they're literally walking together. In such circumstances, folks don't get wrapped up so much in whether they're satisfying someone else's criteria for a "valid" hike, they just choose the route variants that they want to see.
Certainly that doesn't address the issue of taking time off to do side trips. Not all that many appealed to me on the AT, frankly; I felt like I was getting a good tour of rural eastern areas just following the white blazes. On the PCT about the only side trip that really comes to mind is taking a day off to climb Mt. Whitney (recommended).
I just realized that I only averaged about 11 mpd on my hike. The funny part is that between Boiling Springs and Manchester Center I averaged closer to 18. I also didn't take very many zeros, but a lot of neros. It was pretty typical of me to drag a 6 mile day into five hours, and set up camp early just because I found a cool spot to camp.
I took over seven weeks to get through Virginia, over two for Vermont, three for NH, and close to a month for Maine, and that includes seven day that I hiked over 20 miles. I guess I would speed up in between places that I wanted to drag my feet.
I think I spent a fair amount of time smelling the roses.
Lone Wolf
12-19-2010, 20:43
Just curious for those that have thru hiked the trail. What if anything do you wish that you would have done that you didn't, because you were trying to make miles, meet freinds, get to town, etc. Was there a blue blaze to a scenic overlook that you wished you had done, or a place you wish you had visited. Do you wish you had taken the time to stop and smell the roses?:-?
Thanks
Doc Mike
back in 2000 me and gypsy took 9 months to walk 1600 AT miles. took 120 days off. i spent at least 10 grand. we planted the roses and smelled 'em
HiKen2011
12-19-2010, 20:46
back in 2000 me and gypsy took 9 months to walk 1600 AT miles. took 120 days off. i spent at least 10 grand. we planted the roses and smelled 'em
Me likeeeeeeeeeeeee:sun
Lone Wolf
12-19-2010, 20:51
in both 86 and 87 it took 5.5 months to reach gorham, n.h. where i got off the trail both years. it's just walkin'. katahdin wasn't goin' nowhere
HiKen2011
12-19-2010, 20:52
in both 86 and 87 it took 5.5 months to reach gorham, n.h. where i got off the trail both years. it's just walkin'. katahdin wasn't goin' nowhere
HYOH, atta boy LW. That's what it's all about!!!:sun
StubbleJumper
12-19-2010, 23:58
If you are out hiking, <i>you are smelling the roses</i>. Enjoy the walk.
I guess, when you mention "thru-hike the trail" I assume you mean the AT. However, I don't think of any trail as "the" trail, but I think I get what you mean.
No, I have no regrets. I DID STOP TO SMELL THE ROSES, LITERALLY, ON THE AT, ON THE WAY INTO/OUT OF TOWNS, AND WHILE IN TOWNS. NEVER GOT OVERLY CONCERNED WITH "having to do the miles." I ABSOLUTELY know it made for a better hike for me not be stressed with that kind of hiking mindset. NO REGRETS ABOUT THAT CHOICE EITHER!
I think I took in every waterfall within 2 miles of the AT and every scenic overlook within 1 mile of the AT that I knew or could identify on maps. At times I carried up to three horticultural/botany handbooks and identified and took notes on every plant I didn't already recognize by its common and botanical/Latin(names). When I left Standing Bear near GSMNP I barely made it a mile before I started finding many plants I had to stop and identify. That day I made 3 1/2 miles. What a GREAT day!
I remember, what I then considered to be a rather corny sign, largely ignorned by most, including myself initially, at Neels Gap. Since that first time I read it I have since heard it many times again. It's not about the miles but the smiles. I get that now!
As I sat at a scenic overlook in Shenandoah NP, patiently and happily enjoying 3 hrs of perregrine falcons soaring, diving, and gliding on the thermal updrafts, thru-hiker after thru-hiker rushed by me, "making those BIG miles in flat Shenandoah NP", taking little or no notice of the falcons. What a shame! Got to make those miles!
When an interested party asks me about hiking, and specifically about thru-hiking, I always make time to share my experiences with them and let them share some of their lives with me. I find this just enriches the depth of my hikes and turns others onto hiking, which I feel blessed to be able to do.
I like what Gandhi said: There is more to life than increasing its speed. I try to live that way everyday by living in the "now", "the moment." I find so many miss this. They live so often in the past or the future they forget what makes up life is a series of moments in "the now".
garlic08
12-20-2010, 01:50
I hiked the trail faster than most, but I think I gained more than many. I enjoyed every day of my three and a half months on the AT. I was hiking literally every day at sunrise and still out there most days at sunset, enjoying what I consider the best times of the day for hiking. I averaged about 2 mph every day, not exactly a blistering pace and the landscape wasn't exactly a blur, and enjoyed nearly every step of the AT. I passed many shelters with hikers huddled in the dark corners, sometimes as early as four pm, wondering if they thought they were smelling the roses. I walked by many campsites in the early morning hours, enjoying views of the sun burning the mist out of the valleys below, wanting to shout at the quiet tents, "Wake up, you're missing the show!" I'm sure they thought they were smelling the roses by sleeping late.
I also managed to take many side trips that "slower" hikers missed. I remember the shelter after Dismal Falls. It was full of thru hikers. My partner and I were the only ones there who had bothered with the side trip to see the Falls, and we had started the trail weeks later than anyone else. The faster hikers sometimes actually get a chance to see more of the sights.
I also doubt I'll hike the AT again, so I wanted to see as much of it as I could and I feel I succeeded totally. Unless something happens to physically handicap me, I can't imagine enjoying a slower pace. I think I'd be bored if I weren't hiking all day.
Speakeasy TN
12-20-2010, 05:42
My intention is to take it easy and see all I can since it may be a once-in a-lifetime trip. I hope to make the whole thru, and I'd hate to get to a point where I have to choose between mileage and memories near the end. I may pass on some Southern sightseeing early since I can get back to that easier.
~
What if anything do you wish that you would have done that you didn't, because you were trying to make miles, meet freinds, get to town, etc. Was there a blue blaze to a scenic overlook that you wished you had done, or a place you wish you had visited. Do you wish you had taken the time to stop and smell the roses?:-?
Thanks
Doc Mike
A similar question was asked, years ago. The thread (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=5505) produced many responses. One of the most insightful posts I've ever read on WB is Jack Tarlin's response. The thread was eventually branded as an "article".
Doc Mike
12-20-2010, 09:14
Roland thanks for the link. I agree with you i like Jack Tarlin's response and several other great responses as well. Probably should be a must ready for thru hikers, or at least I'm glad i read it before thru.
Thanks for all the great responses
Doc Mike